CIA director quits abruptly

No reason given; some at agency welcome Goss exit.

No reason given; some at agency welcome Goss exit.

May 06, 2006|JONATHAN S. LANDAY Knight Ridder Newspapers

WASHINGTON -- CIA Director Porter Goss resigned suddenly Friday, but gave no reason for quitting the spy agency. The CIA has been trying to recover from a stream of departures of senior officers over Goss' leadership style, low morale and fallout from intelligence failures over Iraq and the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. His departure after less than two years threatened to prolong the turmoil roiling the CIA as it helps lead U.S. efforts to stabilize Iraq and Afghanistan, capture Osama bin Laden and crush al-Qaida and other terrorist organizations. Goss sat next to President Bush as Bush announced the resignation in the Oval Office. Neither the White House nor the CIA gave a reason for Goss' resignation. "He's led ably," said Bush, describing Goss' tenure as "one of transition." Bush praised Goss for helping "make this country a safer place" by overseeing a plan to hire more CIA analysts and field officers and guiding the agency through an overhaul of the U.S. intelligence community. Goss said he believed that the CIA "is on a very even keel, sailing well. I honestly believe that we have improved dramatically your goals for our nation's intelligence capabilities." Goss is a former Republican congressman who was a covert CIA officer from 1962 until 1971. He later made millions in the property business. Some CIA employees welcomed Goss' announcement, said several U.S. intelligence officers and knowledgeable U.S. officials, all of whom declined to be identified because they weren't authorized to speak publicly. They said that the employees see it as a chance for Bush to tap someone with stronger leadership abilities who could replace former Republican congressional staffers whom Goss brought in as senior managers. Goss was embroiled in controversy almost from the day he took over as CIA director in October 2004 because he appointed the congressional staffers to senior management posts in place of long-serving officers. Goss' appointments damaged morale at an agency that already was hurt by charges that it might have been able to foil the Sept. 11 attacks and over its erroneous assessments that former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein had chemical, biological and nuclear weapons programs.